Liverpool ONE and St Johns Centre – Where is the Heart of Liverpool?

Where is the Heart of Liverpool? (formerly titled Are You Served?)8 – 11 October 2010Interactive Performance: Using a mobile, compact cart Charlotte Andrew will move between the St Johns centre and Liverpool One. Her aim is to collect anecdotes of the shift in the heart of Liverpool.

How have the locals of Liverpool been touched by the aftermath of the ‘City of Culture?’ The last Liverpool Biennial coincided with the 2008 city of culture award and as a result of the investment Liverpool One emerged as a modern, complex and sophisticated shopping centre.

How does the next Biennial find the revised centre of Liverpool? This recent reconstruction of the shopping centre is part of a city’s evolution. Like all cities, the centre and the periphery are fluid. Slowly the centre has crept towards the docks, the locus of Liverpool has strided down the hill towards the water, have the locals followed?

What has happened to the shops that have been left behind, and have the prices matched the expensive exteriors of the new shops? Which members of the community does this new centre serve?

I would like to ask the people who shop in Liverpool and live there when the Biennial has left town, how the move has affected them? Perhaps other shops have filled the gaps? How has it worked for everyone?

Using a mobile, compact cart I will move between the St Johns centre and Liverpool One. My aim is to collect anecdotes of this shift in the heart of the Liverpool; Some stories about individuals who ran the shops, or still run them and the community that they serve I would also like the public to draw or write some part of their personal stories about the shifting centre I have found that often people are more conversational when they are drawing. I have a hand held digital tape recorder to capture the spoken anecdotes. In exchange I will offer them a gingerbread heart.Location: Charlotte Andrew’s Art Cart will be…near Wall Street, Liverpool ONEand St.Georges Way, St Johns Centre L1 1LY